24 Apr 2017 Distell’s Autumn Harvest Crackling now in cans

Distell’s 40-year old wine brand, Autumn Harvest Crackling, a semi-sweet perlé wine positioned on the lower end of the wine scale, is now available in cans.

According to the brand’s  Facebook page the Eastern Cape will be the first recipients of the canned crackling.

Since last year when some SABMiller bigwigs defected to Distell, the company’s focus began shifting to RTDs (Ready to Drink), and the Stellenbosch group has slowly started trimming its wine portfolio, selling off properties like Le Bonheur Wine Estate.

Last month legendary head winemaker, Razvan Macici, suddenly left the company, hinting at more troubles within the wine faction of Distell.

Putting the wine into a new packaing format ticks several boxes; appealing to newcomers to the category, making wine more accessible to this youthful market and adding a rather striking point of novel brand differentiation – remarkably, virtually no SA wine is available in cans.